The SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race expands to a full-season championship class in 2023
Written by Ainsley Jacobs
Photography by Kevin DiOssi
Bob Barker, The Price Is Right’s beloved former host, made famous the concept of “closest without going over.” The newly minted NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class, however, took the iconic idea and reversed it — the closest in the heads-up category to run the number without going under gets the win.
Toward the end of 2021, Leticia Hughes grew tired of running an all-motor combo. To push her 2018 Ford Mustang GT to its limits and to score quicker elapsed times, the Kentucky-based woman upgraded to a built Coyote engine and Whipple supercharger. The change, however, meant she was left without a class that she truly fit into.
Despite having only been running with the NMRA for four short years, Hughes knew she wanted to race and had already picked up several impressive wins as well as an OSCA Hot Street championship. “I loved bracket racing, but I wanted more than that,” said the competitive, passionate enthusiast. “I loved True Street, too, but I wanted the tree to matter and for it to be a real race. Even though Limited Street was the next step up for me, it wasn’t the right fit.”
So, after the 2021 NMRA Holley Ford Nationals season wrapped up, Hughes spent some time contemplating options and decided to take matters into her own hands. She chatted with ProMedia’s General Manager and National Event Director, Rollie Miller, as well as ProMedia’s former Director of Content and Marketing, Mike Galimi, about how she could spearhead the development of a whole new category.
“They were a huge part of the process of creating NMRA 8.60 Street Race,” shared Hughes, who took charge of conceptualizing the new class and who also spoke with more than 50 racers who felt strongly about having a place for street-appearing cars to compete. Every hindrance or hurdle she faced in moving forward, she overcame with grit and grace when working to create the class.
Safety was a primary concern for Hughes when putting together a preliminary rules package, though, as modern street cars run seriously quick quarter-mile times at some pretty hefty weights. After tossing some ideas around, Hughes and company settled on a surprisingly simple concept: take the standard 10-point, 8.50-second-ET certified roll cage and add a tenth of a second as a breakout “buffer.”
The extra 0.10 seconds resulted in a targeted elapsed time of 8.60 seconds for the new heads-up class, and it also enabled racers to be able to run “too quick” without risking being disqualified as would normally happen when they dipped below the 8.50 mark. “We didn’t want anyone to break their cert, but still wanted to make it a level playing field,” Hughes explained. “This is the perfect choice for people who only have the 8.50 cage and don’t want to cut up their cars to go quicker.”
With competitors wanting to drive their street cars to pick up their kids at school or grab some groceries on the way to a game, Hughes built the rest of the rules specifically with the intent of keeping those concepts feasible and making it easy for entries to have fun on track; an important element was that every vehicle must be Ford-powered and have a license plate, proof of current registration, and valid insurance.
“I really only cared about what tire was used and the appearance of the vehicle,” she elaborated on her intentions when piecing together the simple guidelines and wide-open format. “This class wasn’t made for the people who already run with the NMRA – it’s for the people sitting in the stands that say ‘Hey, that car looks like mine… I can run here, too!’ I wanted to bring new people into an organization that I loved.”
Another interesting aspect of the class that set 8.60 Street Race apart was the fact that its elimination round pairings were to be determined by a chip draw in the staging lanes rather than a traditional ladder format. As the three qualifying runs/time trials are set on an index, the reasoning behind implementing random pairs was simple: make it more about driving and tuning and making decisions in the lanes rather than it being a battle of bank accounts.
Hughes was so set on seeing the 8.60 Street Race class come to fruition that she even got SunCoast Performance to agree to commit to sponsoring the initiative. Hughes had worked with SunCoast Performance previously and had done a great job for the company as a brand ambassador. It was a great fit for all as the street cars she hoped would call the category home were ideal candidates for SunCoast’s extensive line of transmission, torque converter, and drivetrain products.
Finally, after what felt like endless planning and countless conversations, Hughes and ProMedia had established a firm plan to move forward. In November of 2021, the new NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class was officially announced to be offered at select events in its inaugural year of 2022. The class was instantly a hit and attracted a large crowd as racers and fans alike praised the category for being relatable, attainable, and exciting.
The 2022 NMRA Spring Break Shootout season opener at Florida’s Bradenton Motorsports Park in March hosted the first running of the group, and William Lujan of Lujan Motorsports made history when he captured the first number-one qualifying spot with an 8.605-second run from his 1990 Ford Mustang. Hot on his heels in second was Luis Mellado, while Hughes hustled hard for an eleventh-place spot in the 21-car field.
“I ran Limited Street in 2021, but I couldn’t go any quicker there, and I didn’t want to spend a ton of money to build the chassis up,” stated Lujan, who had already been in the low-8-second zone with his Vortech YSi supercharged 363ci small-block Ford and TH400 transmission and knew that he had found the perfect class for his combination. “I could slow my car down easier than I could speed it up. I had a lot of customers that were interested in coming out, too, and this is a great starting point for most people. A car with minor mods is very capable of being competitive, and a 10-point cage is a lot cheaper than a 25.2 or 25.3 SFI chassis.”
Ultimately, the win in Florida went to Jeff Bloem thanks to some unusual circumstances. Bloem red-lighted at the start with an -.027-second reaction time behind the wheel of his 1991 Mustang, but Randy Thomas in the opposing lane ran way too quickly. The 8.483 at 160.59 mph hit from his Kenne Bell-supercharged 2010 Mustang GT500 was well out of the 0.10-second “safe zone” that had been instituted and, as a result, Thomas was disqualified and Bloem was reinstated as the winner.
“I had been hot-lapping the car between this and the Spring Break Shootout class. I didn’t realize Jeff [Bloem] went red and I thought I was where I needed to be, but I wound up going too far under,” laughed Thomas, who wasn’t upset at the outcome. “It’s ‘first or worst’ and I was definitely ‘worst’ for breaking the cage rule!”
Having set the stage — and precedent — at a successful first outing, the new NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class was also contested the following month at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina. There, Lujan dominated the event from beginning to end as he positioned himself in the number-one qualifier’s spot, then earned the right to snag a Victor award in the winner’s circle at the end of the weekend when he defeated Terry Reeves and his turbocharged 2018 Mustang in the final.
Moving on to Norwalk, Ohio, the momentum continued at the NMRA Ford Performance Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. There, Lujan was once again in the number-one qualifying position – this time with a near-perfect 8.601-second trip at 162.49 mph but the win went to Tim Flanders who ran 8.653 at 159.85 mph with his 1986 Mustang over Dan Ryntz in the final.
Finally, the first season of NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race shenanigans wrapped up at the NMRA World Finals Featuring the Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival at Kentucky’s Beech Bend Raceway Park in late September.
This time out, Casey Shotwell had the quickest qualifying run as his 2016 Mustang GT put him on top of the largest group of car-and-driver pairs to date; 26 entries were on the property showing their support of the category in hopes of solidifying its return in the coming season. In the finals, the excitement of the eliminations was palpable as Thomas redeemed himself from his disqualification earlier in the season; his 8.654 at 152.28 mph run turned on the win light in his lane while Matt Ballard took the runner-up honors behind the wheel of his 2017 Mustang GT by way of an 8.656 at 153.11 mph effort.
Incredibly, over the span of four separate NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race events, there were four different winners – proof that Hughes’s concept was right on target. The overwhelming popularity amongst racers, too, made it an easy decision for ProMedia’s powers-that-be to decide to not only keep the class on for 2023 but to also expand it even further.
For its second season, NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race runs at all six of the NMRA Holley Ford Nationals events in 2023. Competitors are eligible for a championship title at the end of the year and racers are already onboard with preparing plans to be the first in the books to do so.
“We built a class that is both a stepping stone to something quicker and a place where a complete rookie can feel welcome,” noted Hughes, whose idea drew racers from all across the country. Admittedly, her season was a bit of a wash as she was fighting a learning curve with a new combination. “I’m still very happy with how it went and I am proud to have been there to support it, too.”
Hughes will be back in competition in 2023 for sure, but she’ll be changing over from her Ford 10R80 factory transmission to a Turbo 400 automatic instead.
Similarly, Thomas is also planning to return and has some changes in store for his GT500. “I’ve been running the same parts for over a decade and have three seasons on my motor,” stated the man who will be freshening up his 1,500-plus-horsepower-capable BES Racing Engines and Proformance transmission combination which is tuned by Bob Monks at STL Mustangs. “I spent so many years hovering in the 8.50-8.60 range, so this worked out perfectly for me. This is the golden ticket for maximizing fun and minimizing maintenance.”
Reeves has also shown his commitment to the class in a big way — he’s planning to park his 2018 Mustang in favor of a new 2017 model that’s 500-pounds lighter. While he’ll use his same tried-and-true Li Tuning & Racing-built engine and transmission, which includes the factory 10-speed automatic that’s been outfitted with SunCoast parts, his new car should make hitting the 8.60 mark a little less stressful.
“We put in a Watson independent rear suspension and added some carbon fiber body parts, then pulled out the sound deadening and seam sealer,” elaborated Team Beefcake Racing’s Reeves, who also switched to a Control Pack to delete 100 pounds of wiring. “It’ll be easier to run the number with more of a buffer now, and maybe I’ll even get some 7-second glory passes elsewhere in good weather.”
Lujan, too, is expanding his focus on 2023. In addition to his many customers who have joined the ranks in the first year and all of whom intend to return, Lujan has started prepping his former True Street white Mustang coupe for his 21-year-old daughter, Gaby, to drive in the class alongside as well. “I’m bringing all my people,” excitedly affirmed the man who was nominated as Crew Member of the Year for NMRA in 2022. “I’m so proud of her. She deserves to have some fun, too.”
Overall, racers love the class for being fun and fair, simple yet exciting. The chip draw pairing concept has also been welcomed as it makes for some great competition while shaking things up in an interesting way. The unique format with the 8.60 breakout and loose rules on engine combinations and vehicle modifications has been wildly popular with no signs of slowing down.
Given that the NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class was intentionally designed to promote quick yet entry-level, heads-up competition for fast street cars and late-model performance-focused Mustangs, the unanimous opinion is that Hughes and the NMRA officials got it right with the class, right from the beginning.
“Thank you to Ron Wolverton at SunCoast Performance. Without his help, this class wouldn’t have been possible,” Hughes added gratefully. “I appreciate them for supporting the 8.60 Street Race class and for coming on with the NMRA in the first year — and hopefully, many more to come!”
Written by Ainsley Jacobs
Photography by Kevin DiOssi
Bob Barker, The Price Is Right’s beloved former host, made famous the concept of “closest without going over.” The newly minted NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class, however, took the iconic idea and reversed it — the closest in the heads-up category to run the number without going under gets the win.
Toward the end of 2021, Leticia Hughes grew tired of running an all-motor combo. To push her 2018 Ford Mustang GT to its limits and to score quicker elapsed times, the Kentucky-based woman upgraded to a built Coyote engine and Whipple supercharger. The change, however, meant she was left without a class that she truly fit into.
Despite having only been running with the NMRA for four short years, Hughes knew she wanted to race and had already picked up several impressive wins as well as an OSCA Hot Street championship. “I loved bracket racing, but I wanted more than that,” said the competitive, passionate enthusiast. “I loved True Street, too, but I wanted the tree to matter and for it to be a real race. Even though Limited Street was the next step up for me, it wasn’t the right fit.”
So, after the 2021 NMRA Holley Ford Nationals season wrapped up, Hughes spent some time contemplating options and decided to take matters into her own hands. She chatted with ProMedia’s General Manager and National Event Director, Rollie Miller, as well as ProMedia’s former Director of Content and Marketing, Mike Galimi, about how she could spearhead the development of a whole new category.
“They were a huge part of the process of creating NMRA 8.60 Street Race,” shared Hughes, who took charge of conceptualizing the new class and who also spoke with more than 50 racers who felt strongly about having a place for street-appearing cars to compete. Every hindrance or hurdle she faced in moving forward, she overcame with grit and grace when working to create the class.
Safety was a primary concern for Hughes when putting together a preliminary rules package, though, as modern street cars run seriously quick quarter-mile times at some pretty hefty weights. After tossing some ideas around, Hughes and company settled on a surprisingly simple concept: take the standard 10-point, 8.50-second-ET certified roll cage and add a tenth of a second as a breakout “buffer.”
The extra 0.10 seconds resulted in a targeted elapsed time of 8.60 seconds for the new heads-up class, and it also enabled racers to be able to run “too quick” without risking being disqualified as would normally happen when they dipped below the 8.50 mark. “We didn’t want anyone to break their cert, but still wanted to make it a level playing field,” Hughes explained. “This is the perfect choice for people who only have the 8.50 cage and don’t want to cut up their cars to go quicker.”
With competitors wanting to drive their street cars to pick up their kids at school or grab some groceries on the way to a game, Hughes built the rest of the rules specifically with the intent of keeping those concepts feasible and making it easy for entries to have fun on track; an important element was that every vehicle must be Ford-powered and have a license plate, proof of current registration, and valid insurance.
“I really only cared about what tire was used and the appearance of the vehicle,” she elaborated on her intentions when piecing together the simple guidelines and wide-open format. “This class wasn’t made for the people who already run with the NMRA – it’s for the people sitting in the stands that say ‘Hey, that car looks like mine… I can run here, too!’ I wanted to bring new people into an organization that I loved.”
Another interesting aspect of the class that set 8.60 Street Race apart was the fact that its elimination round pairings were to be determined by a chip draw in the staging lanes rather than a traditional ladder format. As the three qualifying runs/time trials are set on an index, the reasoning behind implementing random pairs was simple: make it more about driving and tuning and making decisions in the lanes rather than it being a battle of bank accounts.
Hughes was so set on seeing the 8.60 Street Race class come to fruition that she even got SunCoast Performance to agree to commit to sponsoring the initiative. Hughes had worked with SunCoast Performance previously and had done a great job for the company as a brand ambassador. It was a great fit for all as the street cars she hoped would call the category home were ideal candidates for SunCoast’s extensive line of transmission, torque converter, and drivetrain products.
Finally, after what felt like endless planning and countless conversations, Hughes and ProMedia had established a firm plan to move forward. In November of 2021, the new NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class was officially announced to be offered at select events in its inaugural year of 2022. The class was instantly a hit and attracted a large crowd as racers and fans alike praised the category for being relatable, attainable, and exciting.
The 2022 NMRA Spring Break Shootout season opener at Florida’s Bradenton Motorsports Park in March hosted the first running of the group, and William Lujan of Lujan Motorsports made history when he captured the first number-one qualifying spot with an 8.605-second run from his 1990 Ford Mustang. Hot on his heels in second was Luis Mellado, while Hughes hustled hard for an eleventh-place spot in the 21-car field.
“I ran Limited Street in 2021, but I couldn’t go any quicker there, and I didn’t want to spend a ton of money to build the chassis up,” stated Lujan, who had already been in the low-8-second zone with his Vortech YSi supercharged 363ci small-block Ford and TH400 transmission and knew that he had found the perfect class for his combination. “I could slow my car down easier than I could speed it up. I had a lot of customers that were interested in coming out, too, and this is a great starting point for most people. A car with minor mods is very capable of being competitive, and a 10-point cage is a lot cheaper than a 25.2 or 25.3 SFI chassis.”
Ultimately, the win in Florida went to Jeff Bloem thanks to some unusual circumstances. Bloem red-lighted at the start with an -.027-second reaction time behind the wheel of his 1991 Mustang, but Randy Thomas in the opposing lane ran way too quickly. The 8.483 at 160.59 mph hit from his Kenne Bell-supercharged 2010 Mustang GT500 was well out of the 0.10-second “safe zone” that had been instituted and, as a result, Thomas was disqualified and Bloem was reinstated as the winner.
“I had been hot-lapping the car between this and the Spring Break Shootout class. I didn’t realize Jeff [Bloem] went red and I thought I was where I needed to be, but I wound up going too far under,” laughed Thomas, who wasn’t upset at the outcome. “It’s ‘first or worst’ and I was definitely ‘worst’ for breaking the cage rule!”
Having set the stage — and precedent — at a successful first outing, the new NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class was also contested the following month at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina. There, Lujan dominated the event from beginning to end as he positioned himself in the number-one qualifier’s spot, then earned the right to snag a Victor award in the winner’s circle at the end of the weekend when he defeated Terry Reeves and his turbocharged 2018 Mustang in the final.
Moving on to Norwalk, Ohio, the momentum continued at the NMRA Ford Performance Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. There, Lujan was once again in the number-one qualifying position – this time with a near-perfect 8.601-second trip at 162.49 mph but the win went to Tim Flanders who ran 8.653 at 159.85 mph with his 1986 Mustang over Dan Ryntz in the final.
Finally, the first season of NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race shenanigans wrapped up at the NMRA World Finals Featuring the Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival at Kentucky’s Beech Bend Raceway Park in late September.
This time out, Casey Shotwell had the quickest qualifying run as his 2016 Mustang GT put him on top of the largest group of car-and-driver pairs to date; 26 entries were on the property showing their support of the category in hopes of solidifying its return in the coming season. In the finals, the excitement of the eliminations was palpable as Thomas redeemed himself from his disqualification earlier in the season; his 8.654 at 152.28 mph run turned on the win light in his lane while Matt Ballard took the runner-up honors behind the wheel of his 2017 Mustang GT by way of an 8.656 at 153.11 mph effort.
Incredibly, over the span of four separate NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race events, there were four different winners – proof that Hughes’s concept was right on target. The overwhelming popularity amongst racers, too, made it an easy decision for ProMedia’s powers-that-be to decide to not only keep the class on for 2023 but to also expand it even further.
For its second season, NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race runs at all six of the NMRA Holley Ford Nationals events in 2023. Competitors are eligible for a championship title at the end of the year and racers are already onboard with preparing plans to be the first in the books to do so.
“We built a class that is both a stepping stone to something quicker and a place where a complete rookie can feel welcome,” noted Hughes, whose idea drew racers from all across the country. Admittedly, her season was a bit of a wash as she was fighting a learning curve with a new combination. “I’m still very happy with how it went and I am proud to have been there to support it, too.”
Hughes will be back in competition in 2023 for sure, but she’ll be changing over from her Ford 10R80 factory transmission to a Turbo 400 automatic instead.
Similarly, Thomas is also planning to return and has some changes in store for his GT500. “I’ve been running the same parts for over a decade and have three seasons on my motor,” stated the man who will be freshening up his 1,500-plus-horsepower-capable BES Racing Engines and Proformance transmission combination which is tuned by Bob Monks at STL Mustangs. “I spent so many years hovering in the 8.50-8.60 range, so this worked out perfectly for me. This is the golden ticket for maximizing fun and minimizing maintenance.”
Reeves has also shown his commitment to the class in a big way — he’s planning to park his 2018 Mustang in favor of a new 2017 model that’s 500-pounds lighter. While he’ll use his same tried-and-true Li Tuning & Racing-built engine and transmission, which includes the factory 10-speed automatic that’s been outfitted with SunCoast parts, his new car should make hitting the 8.60 mark a little less stressful.
“We put in a Watson independent rear suspension and added some carbon fiber body parts, then pulled out the sound deadening and seam sealer,” elaborated Team Beefcake Racing’s Reeves, who also switched to a Control Pack to delete 100 pounds of wiring. “It’ll be easier to run the number with more of a buffer now, and maybe I’ll even get some 7-second glory passes elsewhere in good weather.”
Lujan, too, is expanding his focus on 2023. In addition to his many customers who have joined the ranks in the first year and all of whom intend to return, Lujan has started prepping his former True Street white Mustang coupe for his 21-year-old daughter, Gaby, to drive in the class alongside as well. “I’m bringing all my people,” excitedly affirmed the man who was nominated as Crew Member of the Year for NMRA in 2022. “I’m so proud of her. She deserves to have some fun, too.”
Overall, racers love the class for being fun and fair, simple yet exciting. The chip draw pairing concept has also been welcomed as it makes for some great competition while shaking things up in an interesting way. The unique format with the 8.60 breakout and loose rules on engine combinations and vehicle modifications has been wildly popular with no signs of slowing down.
Given that the NMRA SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class was intentionally designed to promote quick yet entry-level, heads-up competition for fast street cars and late-model performance-focused Mustangs, the unanimous opinion is that Hughes and the NMRA officials got it right with the class, right from the beginning.
“Thank you to Ron Wolverton at SunCoast Performance. Without his help, this class wouldn’t have been possible,” Hughes added gratefully. “I appreciate them for supporting the 8.60 Street Race class and for coming on with the NMRA in the first year — and hopefully, many more to come!”
